No Name-Calling When You Focus on Character
Your local schools may be close to perfect, but name-calling is one area in which they probably fight an ongoing battle. Name-calling is verbal abuse, and can have both immediate and lasting effects. I’m not talking only about the gross names that today’s young people dare to fling at one
“No Name-calling” Meets Character Education
Character education programs usually include lessons on those character traits considered basic by a committee within a given school district. They may acquire their list of character traits in any of several ways, but the list is normally fairly short. Ask me about “no name-calling.” “No name-calling” does not appear
Character Education Changes Teenagers
I guarantee it. If character education is done correctly, using a good character education program, and modeled by a teacher who makes it a passionate, purposeful priority, character education works an enormous change in teenagers. Character education changes teenagers, and yet most of our schools do not spend time trying
Character Education Is a Privilege
Character education is a privilege – and I believe wise educators treat it as such. A wise educator is far more likely to say, “I get to teach character education” than to grumble, “I have to teach character education.” “I get to teach” character education using character stories with interactive
Character Education – Building a Mansion
Character education involves building. The question is, “What are we building?” Some character educators are content to raise a small, ready-made tent of simple, lightweight materials: fabric, metal pole, and rope. Other character educators insist on constructing, from the ground up, a large mansion of strong materials: rock, concrete, brick,
Character beyond Hearsay
We need teachers who know character personally, and not merely by hearsay. Experience has taught me that the best educators, professional or parents, build character well when they build first in their own lives. They study character first for themselves. That is, they do not study character primarily to get
A Few of My Puzzling Things
You’ve heard “The Sound of Music’s” Maria sing about her favorite things, haven’t you? I have many favorite things, but I have a few puzzling things also. It puzzles me that some educators don’t seem to see the huge benefits of top notch character education – benefits for everyone concerned.
Character Education – Teaching about Money
You’ve probably heard it said often: “Money is the root of all evil.” It was quoted again on TV today, but is it correct? If so, we should destroy all of the world’s money immediately, and give our globe a startling makeover. Why, we could do away with every vestige
Teaching Honesty As a Character Trait
What is honesty? I’ve written about it other places. Jeremy Rabbit’s Honesty Pie tells children what it is, and Character Education 101, my free e-course for educators, tells teachers the meaning of honesty. Many people, however, don’t really know what honesty is. This past weekend, as I scanned TV program
Quality Character Education Can Save Lives
Quality character education can save lives. Good character education could have saved the life of a teen who died needlessly this week. When I heard the story, I listened with sadness, knowing that the boy need not have died that way; wondering when people will realize the importance of building
